The Fifth Member's Curse
by Bartiand
Summary: Bartiand, a reincarnate, and his dog, Grimstridder have joined up with Kazuma Satō's party. Being at a high level, he is a valuable member for his new comrades. However, this had come at a heavy cost: becoming a Lich and something even worse. During his time with Kazuma's party, Bartiand accidentally slowly gains a harem.
1. Meeting the Crew

_Chapter 1: Meeting the Crew_

I lie down in the bushes along with my companion. My companion is a dog by the name of Grimstridder. That's what his former master called him before I killed him. We've been tracking this group of four adventurers for a while now. There's really only one reason why I'm tracking them. One of them looks like the goddess, Aqua. She's the one who sent me to this world and a few others as well. I've died a fair amount of times and I've seen worlds that should only exist in fiction. I'm not too sure if it's actually Aqua but I can't just ignore this. Right now, the four are currently fighting a decent size pack of Dire Wolves which is about thirty or so. I gaze through the scope of my Kar98k, an item I was allowed to have when I entered a parallel world that only used WWII weapons. The four are having a hard time defeating these puny wolves. Their crusader can't hit shit and the one that kind of looks like Aqua is running around. The smallest of the four adventurers is starting to prepare a spell.

"Darkness blacker than black and darker than dark, I beseech thee, combine with my deep crimson. The time of awakening cometh. Justice, fallen upon the infallible boundary, appear now as an intangible distortion. Explosion!"

As she said this, the spell runes appeared and cast down the biggest explosion I've ever seen. I'm nearly blasted away from my hiding spot. As the dust settles, she has killed ten of the Dire Wolves. She's an archwizard, no doubt. Unfortunately, the girl has seemed to collapse and some of the wolves seem to surround her. Her other comrades won't be able to help her in time. I guess it's time to make my presence known to all. I take aim at the biggest of the five. I hover over his head and squeeze the trigger. The shot rings out, the wolf slumps to the ground and everyone stops moving. I aim at another wolf and fire. I repeat the pattern three more times until the wolves surround the girl are dead. I reload my gun and notice the fifteen remaining wolves seem to slowly come towards my position. I guess I can't hide anymore.

"Let's show them our power, Grim," I said as I pet him.

We come out of our hiding spot and I unsheath my sword, Dawnbreaker, which can augment magic spells if they are cast on it. The three other adventurers check on the down girl while the wolves approach us. The some of the wolves charge me. I only laugh as I cut them down without taking a breath. For some odd reason, I want to get a bit fancy with my attacks.

"Blizzard!"

A storm of snow and ice form, killing some of the wolves.

"Lightning!"

Blots come from the sky killing more wolves, leaving six wolves left. I put on hand on Dawnbreaker.

"Tinder!"

Dawnbreaker's blade is soon covered in flames. I charge at the remaining wolves while Grim attacks as well. I slice through four of them. Grim deals with the remaining two by crushing their skulls with his power bite. I start to approach the adventurers at a decent pace. Once I get close enough, the only male of the group comes forth to me.

"Uh, Thanks for the help."

"I'm not done helping yet," I replied.

I walk over to the collapsed archwizard and kneel down next to her. She struggles to sit up. I had to help her sit up next to a rock nearby. I reach into my rucksack and pull out a potion bottle. I offer it to the girl.

"Here, drink this. It should get you back up on your feet. It's a mana potion."

"Thank you…" she says tiredly.

She drinks the potion and she's renewed with energy. It's good to know that my skill in alchemy hasn't decayed yet.

"Who's the party leader here?" I asked.

As soon as I said that, The Aqua look alike rushes over to me.

"It is I, Aqua, the Goddess of Water that is beloved by the Axis Sect and the archpriest of this group!"

"So, I was right then. I actually can't believe that it's you!"

Aqua only tilts her head.

"I highly doubt you remember my real name but you'll most likely remember the nickname you gave me: The one who doesn't stop dying."

Aqua thinks for a second before her eye light up.

"I remember! I sent you to a parallel world only for you to come back within less than a minute," She says as she stifles her laughter.

"Well, I did get put in a war zone which makes sense and if you're going to laugh, just do it already, damn it."

Aqua soon bursts into full-blown laughter. The male adventurer approaches me once more.

"You're a reincarnate as well?" he asked

"Yes, I've been reincarnated many times," I replied

"So, hero that helped us out, what is your name?"

The crusader was the one who had said this. I turn to face her.

"My name is Bartiand, The one who wields Dawnbreaker."

"Dawnbreaker… Dawnbreaker… Dawnbreaker…"

Aqua taps her head as if the name was familiar to her. Suddenly, another light bulb goes off in her head.

"Dawnbreaker is a rapier sword that can hold any magic spell if it's cast on it," Aqua said as if she's was giving an important answer.

"Well, you're right Aqua. you should know since you're the one who gave it to me before I came here. I guess since you know who I am, it's only fair that I know who you guys are."

"My name is Megumin the archwizard.

"I am Darkness the crusader.

"My name is Kazuma Satō, the actual leader of this party."

"Really? It seems more fitting for Aqua to lead this group since she's a goddess and such."

"Trust me in the fact that she's extremely useless."

I only scoff. I noticed that Grim has taken a liking to Megumin.

"And that right there is my trusted ally, Grimstridder. He's called Grim for short. I find it odd that he's so this much affection for someone that isn't his master."

"Could the fact that I'm a Crimson Demon play a part in this?"

"Most likely. Grim is a Lich dog. He's fond of friendly lich, demons, and other creatures."

"Then I shall purify him!" Aqua suddenly shouted.

"You'll do no such thing to Grim. He helped save your lives today. Also, who's the highest level here?"

"I'm the highest at level thirty-five," Aqua said.

"Then do you mind telling me you thought it was okay to go kill level sixty Dire Wolves?"

"Level sixty?!" The other three shouted in unison.

"Yes. You're lucky that the explosion spell was able to kill a third of them. I suggest check what level you're at now, Megumin."

She pulls out her adventurer card and her eyes are open wider than a stab wound.

"I leveled up fifteen times! I'm now level forty!"

"Congrats. Invest those skill points into your mana pool. You're also only thirty-five levels short of where I'm at."

"That means you're level seventy-five?" Darkness asked.

"Yes. I know advance magic and weapons training as well as skills that help people such as alchemy."

"The other weapon you have. What is it? I've never seen something like this," Megumin said as she tried to grab the gun.

"Don't touch it!"

I take out the gun and show it to them.

"It's called a gun. It's a highly upgraded version of bows and crossbows. This is the only known gun in this world as for I brought it with me when I came here. And this is only one type of the many guns that exist from other worlds."

For some reason, I feel the presence of an enemy. Without looking, I flipped the gun over my shoulder and fired it. I hear a whine soon after. I turn to see that I've shot a lurking Dire Wolf dead straight in the head. It came really close to attacking me without me noticing. I sling the gun over my shoulder.

"He never stood a chance and from what I've seen, you need me. Most adventuring parties have 5 members."

They form a circle and start discussing my offer. I can't hear what they're saying sadly. Soon, Kazuma turns to me.

"Before you can join, Aqua wants to see your adventurer card."

"Sure but I got a cool trick with it."

I pull out my card and press the part that says skills. The card reveals all of the skill trees of this world. It's now about the size of a map. I hand it over to Aqua. Once again they start talking among themselves. They soon all nod in agreement.

"You can join our party," Aqua said.

"You'll be a valuable asset," Darkness added.

"And since you don't know explosion magic, I can teach you," Megumin chimed in.

Kuzuma hands back my card.

"So, where are we heading next?" I asked.

"We'll be heading back to the town of Axel," said Aqua.

"Axel? Never been there. Let's get a move on."

We all start walking towards the direction of Axel. I walking next to Aqua for a fair bit before something comes to my mind.

"How did you end up here?"

"That shut-in NEET brought me along. They said it was within the rules,"

"That's kind of fucking stupid."

"It is."

After that, the air is filled with our footsteps. About what I think is halfway to Axel, a yell catches us off guard. Soon several masked people are charging us.

"Bandits!" I shouted as I unsheath Dawnbreaker.

Kazuma and Darkness defend Aqua and Megumin. They can hold their own. Grim and I are surrounded by many more. About eight total. Grim is able to take two away from me, leaving me with six to deal with. I'm able to block their attacks for a good while. I counter attack one of them and kill him. I follow up by finishing off three more before my next attack is blocked. I forced to block more attacks Soon, one of them guard breaks me and I feel two swords penetrate me. I hear the screams of my new party members. My attackers can't remove their swords from my body. I only chuckle. I can't feel the pain of their swords. In a swift manner, I break their swords and pull the remaining pieces from my body. The two are unarmed now and try to run away. I only pity them.

"Ensnare!" I shout.

The two fleeing bandits are caught by the roots.

I see my party members are still dealing with their bandits, they only had four to deal with. I hover my hand over Dawnbreaker.

"Lightning!"

A bolt comes from the sky, striking Dawnbreaker and give it electric powers. I charge at the four bandits, pricing one through his entire chest and shocking him to death. The other three turn their focus towards me, leaving my allies an opportunity to attack. Kazuma kills one and Darkness tags another through their stomach while I slice the last one down the middle. While electricity flows through him I turn around to check on Grim. He's already dealt with his bandits and is guarding the ones that are trapped by the ensnare spell.

"Loot the dead and Aqua, guide their souls to the afterlife," I said looking back at her.

She only nods, clearly traumatized by the events that just unfolded. I walk towards the two masked bandits that are trapped. They're clearly struggling, wanting to avoid possible death.

"Stop squirming. You're making harder on yourselves," I told them.

The bandits stopped squirming and once they did I ripped off their masks. Two females, no doubt. One's blonde and the other has black hair.

"You two mind telling me you thought it was a good idea to attack us?"

Silence. Not what I want to hear. I step on the blonde one's hand. She screams in pain.

"Stop!" she shouted as applied more pressure.

"Then talk! I don't want to spill more blood but Grimstridder over there looks pretty hungry."

They both glance over that the lich dog before them and quivered in fear.

"Okay! We'll talk! We thought you guys were low levels so we decided to take the risk plus we outnumbered you!" The black haired one shouted.

"While you had higher numbers, I'm the highest of the party of at level 75 with Grimstridder over there being level 60. Now, what to do with you two? So many possibilities but which one shall I chose?"

"Please let us go!" the blonde one

"We won't bother you again!" The black

"Sadly, I can't let that happen. I'm turning you two in."

I reach into my rucksack and pull out some rope to bind their hands together. Now, I'm not the best with the whole rope business so the binding isn't the best. I cut the roots from them and help the stand up.

"Now, if you decide to run, Grimstridder with eat your fucking asses. Do you understand?" I whispered in their ears.

They both nod in understanding. I take the two back to my group. They've done loot the bodies and Aqua is saying some holy words. Almost nearly forgetting about my stab wounds from earlier, I grab a vitality potion from my rucksack and drink it. The wound starts to seal up, allow me to ignore it for a while. I remove my helmet and wipe my forehead. I also clear the blood off the helmet as well. The plate helm is now clean once more and put it back on.

"You guys find any cool loot?"

"No, but we did find a lot of money. About half million Eris," Aqua said.

"Not bad. Divide that amongst yourselves. I don't need any," I replied.

"But why? You did most of the work," Megumin replied back.

"I don't need any currently. Besides, I'll most likely get a reward for turning in these two," I said as I gestured to the two bandits.

"We should continue before more bandits show up," Kazuma said.

I find it odd that no one asked about how I survived getting stabbed. We walk in silence for most of the time. I then feel a tug on my sleeve. It was Darkness.

"Ah, what is it?"

"How did you survive the stabs? Did it feel good?" she asked as her breathing started to get heavier.

"I have extremely high vitality," I said.

That's not the whole truth but it's best not to reveal everything right now.

"And for if it felt good, I'm not sure. I hardly felt any pain from it."

The second question was odd. The way she asked makes it seem like she was a masochist or something of that matter. No more questions are asked of me and we reach Axel in peace. The bandits hang their head low when we arrive at the gates. I'll have to take these to a jail or something before I head to the Adventurer Guild if I can even find it.

"Do any of you know where the jail is?" I ask

"I'll take you there," Megumin responded almost immediately.

"Well, I guess we'll see you three in a bit," I said to the other three.

I notice that Grim can't decide if he wants to stay next to Megumin or if he should guard the bandits. After a bit, we make it to the building that I assume that is the jail. We walk in and the jail guard greets us.

"Oh, hello there. What can I do for you today?" He said as he fixed his glasses.

"These are the surviving bandits of a group that attacked us on our way here," I said.

"Ah, We've been having trouble with bandits in the area. I trust that this was a decent size group that attacked you?" The man asked.

About twelve of them, the other ten are dead," I replied.

Megumin nods in agreement. The man pulls out a notepad and does some calculations.

"I believe that for these two prisoners, you get a total of five hundred thousand Eris and for the ten bandits that were killed, two million Eris. In total, two million and five hundred thousand Eris."

The man tosses me a sack. The sack has a decent weight to it. The guard stands up and walks to the prisoners. He takes them to the cells and left us to our own thing.

"Hey, Megumin?"

"Yes?"

"Where's the Adventurer Guild?" I'm not familiar with this town one bit."

She chuckles. She motions for me to follow her. I obey. It takes us about five minutes to reach the Adventurer Guild. It's located somewhere in the middle of town. We walk in and I see the rest of our party already sitting at a table. We go over to them and take a seat.

"How much money do you guys get?" Aqua asked.

"Two million and five hundred thousand Eris," I cooly replied.

I pour the money out and divide it evenly among us.

"Each of us should have five hundred thousand Eris," I said.

Everyone nodded in agreement. I take a glance around the room and I recoil in fear as if I had seen a ghost. An old colleague of mine. Wiz.


	2. Meeting Old Friends

_Chapter 2: Meeting Old Friends_

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck. FUCK! Out of all the people I currently want to see, it's not Wiz. I think the only thing preventing her from recognizing me is my helmet. God, If she knew if I was here right now, no less than twenty feet away. Gods, help me.

"Hey, Wiz! Come over here!" Kazuma shouted, which gained my attention.

DUDE! WHAT THE FUCK?! I would fucking stab him right here and now if it wasn't for the witnesses. The audacity of the prick! Fuckfuckfuckfuck! Goddamnit! I'm somehow able to maintain a calm exterior but I want to die on the inside. I watch as Wiz walks over here. Once Wiz is over here, I can hear my heart pounding.

"We got two new members in our party. Bartiand and his dog, Grimstridder," Kazuma said casually as he gestured to us.

I gave a slight wave but since Grim sensed that Wiz is a lich, he just does his thing and becomes the most friendliest damn thing you've ever seen.

"How did you come across him?" Wiz asked me as she pets him.

"I came under attack from a lich beastmaster while fleeing from the attack on Dunwich. Grim here was the only one reluctant to attack me. While the beastmaster while yelling at him, I took the chance to slay the poor bastard," I replied.

"It's odd for a beast to disobey its master but it happens. I also remember Dunwich. That's when the Devil King's necromancer, Alexander-sama, disappeared. No one knows what happened to him."

"This necromancer. Tell me more about him," Kazuma asked.

"He was a friend of mine before we were forced to work for the Devil King. We were members of the same party for a few years. We became liches to save our other comrades."

"I wish I could meet this man. Sounds like my type of guy," I said.

Technically I've already met the man but I would rather not talk about it. Well not now.

"Well, it was nice meeting you but if you don't mind, I would like to take a look around town. It's my first time being here," I said, hoping to get away.

"If you going, then you're going to need a guide," Megumin chimed in.

"I don't need a guide."

"You asked where the Adventurer's Guild was."

"Fine. You win."

We walk out of the Guild and I took a look around. Seems like a nice and peaceful town. Children playing, people chatting.

"So, where to?" I asked.

"This way," Megumin gestured.

As we are walking towards what I assume is a general store, the wind picks up at an unhealthy rate for my liking. Suddenly, A black cloud of thick smoke appears before us. I draw out Dawnbreaker. A masked figure steps out of the smoke. Their outfit just screams assassin. They take a swift look around before speaking. They also look somewhat familiar

"Greetings, peasants. I am Leather Hammer of the Obsidian Order. I'm looking for someone by the name of Bartiand. Does anyone have information about him?"

Fuck… The Obsidian Order is a group of assassin secretly employed by the Devil King although they do jobs for almost anyone for the right price. I've worked with some of their members including Leather Hammer. But how did they find my general location?

Megumin looks at me with confusion.

"Why would they want you?" She asks

"It's a long story. I'll tell you but only when the time permits it." I replied.

I move my way through the crowd that the formed around my hunter.

"Hey, Leatherface! I'm right here!"

"Bartiand, It's been a while."

"It has been, indeed. I can only assume you're here to kill me."

"You've assumed correctly and you know why."

"I do but I believe my actions are justifiable."

"Perhaps to some but to our master, it's treason then."

Leather Hammer pulls out his warhammer. He charges at him with a powerful swing. I swift dodge to the left to avoid the hit. He continues to swing at me for a bit. On his fourth swing, I roll under the attack and slash my sword at his torso. He hisses in pain. He swings at my legs and hits them. I'm sent flying about 10 ft away. Gasps are heard from the crowd. Leather approaches me. I see his sinister smile in my daze. He raises his hammer and slams it down on my chest. I soon recover from my daze and throw dirt in his eyes. I think my sternum is broken. I attack with rapid speed, landing many blows on him. He then kicks me away then he looks at me and just starts laughing. I look at him confused. He does some hand movement and whistles. I only then realize what he's done.

"I've should've known you'd be too much of a bitch to fight me without help nearby."

"It was only a precaution for when things turned out like this."

"You're still a bitch."

"Perhaps."

Two figures jumped down from the rooftops. They remove their hoods. I don't recognize the short one but the tall one…

"Thaola… It can't be…"

Thaola was somewhat of a lover to me but we never did anything dirty.

"You… You brought this on yourself, you know. I didn't want to do this," she somberly said

"If you could see the light from here, your conscience wouldn't be so clear," I replied.

I take a look at the short one. They're a gnoll by no doubt and they have a bow.

"Aren't gnolls supposed to be low-level beings with no real threat?" I sarcastically say.

As a response, it fired an arrow at me. I barely dodge it. I chuckle at its attempt. However, it's now a 1v3. I need to think about this. I know the approach. This will hopefully be quick.

"Ice!"

I aim the spell at Leather. It freezes half of his body. I charge the gnoll. I feel an arrow pierce through my armor. I land a blow on the gnoll, knocking it out. I look Thaola to see that she looks uncomfortable but takes a fighting stance. I sigh. She charges me. I parry her attack but she ends up parrying the parry, landing a successful hit. I try attacking but she blocks all of my hits. I really don't want to hurt her. My mind comes across a spell I learn when I first got here in this world.

"Rest!"

Thaola slumps to the ground, struggling to stay away.

"You… Bastard. Hahaha," she says before dozing off.

I turn to see Leather Hammer finally break out of my ice prison. He charges me with all of his might. When he swings at me, I slide under him and pierce his stomach, losing my grip on Dawnbreaker in the process. The blade goes through his back and he falls on knees.

"Defeated… by a former comrade… funny…" Leather wheezed.

"This wouldn't have to happen if you left well enough alone," I shouted at him.

"You should've known he would send us!"

"I didn't think it would be you! And certainly not Thaola!

"Also, if you didn't betray us, this would have never happened!"

"You dare to be my judge but seem to forget that my blood is red as your as was spilled on this land!"

"You've should've been dead sooner if you didn't change your name!"

I had enough of this arguing. I grab Dawnbreaker by the blade and pull the rest of it through Leather. Leather falls onto the ground, dead. I clean Dawnbreaker using his clothes and remove the arrow from my chest. Despite being a murder, he still had his faith. It's only proper to give him a eulogy. I plant Dawnbreaker in the ground, kneel, and started the eulogy.

"Gott Mit Uns. Today, a former friend and comrade of mine has been slain by my hand. Even though he was a killer, he still was good at heart. He cared for children that were lost and treated everyone the same, no matter their race or gender. Although I only knew him for a short time, I consider him as a father figure in my life. May a god give him salvation."

I stand up and sheathe Dawnbreaker. I walk over the two other knocked out assassins. I honestly don't care what happens to the gnoll but I won't kill them like this since it's unhonorable. However, for Thaola, I do care. I don't want her in the jail. I put Thaola over my shoulder. I gesture for Megumin to come over.

"You know where any carriages might be?" I asked as she came over.

"Some should be that way, Why?" She said, pointing down the end of the street.

"Thaola, right here, is an old friend of mine. I don't wish harm upon her."

I start walking down towards the presumed area of the carriages. I finally see them and approach the closest one. I talk to the driver first.

"Excuse me, my good sir, I require a favor. I need my friend taken far away from here. She should awake around dusk."

I take place a bag of roughly 150,000 Eris in his hand. He looks at me, Thaola, and then the bag.

"I'll take on your friend. Put her in."

I open the carriage door, gently place her down, and then close the door. I feel adrenaline wearing off me, which starts to give me the pain of my broken sternum. I think more than just the sternum actually broke. I reach in my rucksack for a healing potion which works differently than a vitality potion. This full heals cuts, bruises, and broken stuff while the vitality potion brings my health up and only slightly heals injuries. After about a minute of searching, I didn't find one. I look around for a potion shop, which was back down near where the fight happen. I make my way there, clutching my chest. I walk in and approach the shopkeeper.

"Excuse me, but I require a healing potion. Badly."

She quickly looks over me and rushes off. She comes back, carrying the healing potion with her.

"1,000 Eris," She says.

I pull out 3,000 Eris and hand them to her.

"Keep the change."

I leave the shop and drink the potion. The problem with drinking the healing potions is that it puts you in excruciating pain, no matter how tough you are. I feel the pain come over then it disappears as if it never happened. I need to get my armor fixed as well. The breastplate is completely shattered. I notice a blacksmith shop and head in. The blacksmith turns to face me.

"What can I do for you today?" The blacksmith asked

"My breastplate requires repairs," I replied.

"Not just the breastplate either. Almost the entire suit needs to be repaired except for the helm," He said, grabbing a hold of me and inspecting my armor. "When was the last time you repaired this?"

"Many moons ago."

"I see. You need to take better care of your armor. Being a skilled fighter won't always save you."

"You saw the fight, didn't you."

"I did, indeed. Now get out of that armor."

I remove the armor and inspect certain pieces of it. They were heavily scratched. He was definitely right. I'm now in basic cloth clothing. I decided while I'm at it, I'd change into my uniform that I died in and wore into this world. I put the helmet on as well. They don't match but I like to hide my face from the fear of people finding out my true identity.

"When should I expect repairs to be done?"

"Maybe in about 3 days."

"Understood."

I left the shop go find Megumin. She was waiting for me outside the shop. She looks at me confused, which her head to the side.

"It's a military uniform of mine. The entire suit except for the helm needed to be repaired."

She approaches me and grabs at the patch on the uniform, looking at it.

"What's a Diamond Dog?" She asked.

"Diamond Dogs is the name of a private military company that I used to work for before I came here. It was a memorable time. Big Boss always treated his soldiers right. He's a legend among men."

"I've never heard of him."

"That's because he's not of this world."

"What?"

"All will be revealed it in but all I can say is I'm not from this world."

I look away from her a notice a sign saying Wiz's Magic Shop. Hold the fuck up. She runs a store? I've got to check it.

"Say, I'm going to check out Wiz's shop, if she's there. I'll meet up with you guys back at the Guild."

I walk over to the shop, leaving Megumin very confused. It's very simplistic but it looks nice that way. As soon as I enter it, I feel something sinister. I can't pinpoint what it is but it's near. I see Wiz behind a counter and Grim is in front of it.

"Grim? You really followed her back here?" I asked him, jokingly as I petted him.

"Bartiand-san. It's surprising to see you here and out of your armor!"

"It was badly ruined during the fight with the Obsidian Order."

"Obsidian Order?!" Wiz asked, nearly shouting.

"What? They're just assassins. No more than that."

"No! They work for the Devil King!"

"Ah. Interesting."

"Anyway, Would you like some tea or were you going to browse around."

"You serve tea as well? I guess I'll take some."

Wiz rushes off. I glance around a bit. I see a table and chairs and take a seat. After a bit, Wiz comes back out with a tea set. She serves the tea elegantly. Now, I only realized that drinking the tea require me to remove my helmet. I didn't think that far ahead. I'm a dumbass.

"Wait, I recognize that uniform, now."

"Oh?"

I also seem to forget that I meet Wiz while wearing this exact same uniform. Shit just went south.

"That's one of the Devil King's Necromancer's uniforms. How do you have it? Is he dead? Did you kill him?" Wiz asked me, violently shaking me in the process.

"Stop! He's not dead at all."

"Then explain!" She shouted.

The cat has to come out of the bag. I didn't anyone to find this out, especially her. I sigh, slowly take on my helmet, and set it on the table. Wiz gasped in surprise.

"You're… You're alive!"

Yes. The legendaryish Bartiand is actually former Devil Kings Necromancer General, Alexander. Funny, I wanted to tell Wiz but not like this.

"Yes. I'm alive and it's really me," I said.

"What happened? He was furious that you disappeared. Many assumed that you were killed but by debris but the remains of your troops suggested otherwise."

"I abandoned my post."

"What?"

"You heard me…"

"Why?"

"I didn't do it for myself. I did it for her."

"Who?"

"My daughter. Well, adopted daughter. When I found her, she was crying by the bodies of her parents. My troops started to surround her which only made her cry louder. Seeing this reminded me of my sister. I couldn't stand by and watch. I killed my troops and took the girl on my steed. Unfortunately, the beastmaster found us and killed my steed. I was forced to fight him and his beasts. One of them, which is currently with us, refused to fight. While the beastmaster was yelling at him, I took the opportunity to finish off the bastard. The lich dog then became our campaign on our trip. During our fleeing, I decided to burn my robes, to hide any evidence of my connection to the Devil King. We traveled for 5 days before we reached a town called Mesic. I told them what happened at Dunwich except for the part of the Necromancer thing. I made it seem like I was a normal civilian. Esyae, my daughter, is currently being looked after in the town by a friend I made there. The friend is part of a paladin order that follows the Oath of Vengeance. I expect Esyae to become a paladin as well."

"Alex-sama… I didn't know. I cried for you. It hurt me when you left."

"It hurt me as well. I'm sorry that I couldn't take you with me. I was put on the spot and when I saw you at the Guild, I was panicking. I didn't know how you would react or anyone if they knew I was there. When the Obsidian Order found me, they sent Leather Hammer, Thaola, and a gnoll to take me down. I stopped them from doing so."

I notice that Wiz's face is very close to mine. I can feel the heat coming off of her. She's say nothing but she acts instead. She kisses me, passionately. I react the same way. Her lips are sweet like honeysuckles. She breaks the kiss.

"I've wanted to do that for a long time," She says, smiling.

"I think I did too," I said, not really knowing what to say.

"What is all this commotion about?" I hear a familiar voice say.

If that's who I think it is, there will be trouble. Much trouble.


End file.
